Friday, while driving through thunderstorms that we had, the "light blub" warning came on and I figured one of my bulbs just went out. I parked the car and didn't mess with it till yesterday. When I started the car, no warning light came on and when testing the lighting, they all worked fine. Then after a minute, they went off and the warning light came on. The AC/Heater controls dimmed where you could barely see the temperature. The radio didn't have any sound either. Then, the battery warning light came on and thought maybe the alternator was the one causing the problems.

Before taking on the task of removing the alternator, I checked the voltage and it was charging. Car off was at 12.7, car on w/ac off was at 17.4 and with the car on ac on it was 14.5 volts. Seems, normal to me.... or not?

The terminals had a bit of corrosion so I cleaned them up well with wire brush/spray cleaner kit I bought at the local auto parts store.

Once I got it all back together, I tested it and have the same issue. The "light bulb' warning light and "battery" warning light coming on. At one point, I even had the "brake light" warning come on.

I'm not sure what to do now, all I know is I need help ASAP since this is my daily driver and I'd like to be at work tomorrow.

Thanks in advance.

 

Forgot to add that the ABS and traction lights also come on

 

I would have your battery load tested or replaced before you do anything else. 12.7v doesn't say much.

 

Is it just me or is 17+ volts too high?

Well as I sat in the car and tried to think of what the heck was going on, I lowered the window and raised it back up and for some reason it seemed as the window motor was going a little too fast than normal.

So I said screwed it and since I didn't know what else to do, I pulled the alternator and got it tested.

FAIL

The alt was bad. This is a new problem for me but I guess it was charging too much. Unfortunately but luckily, I got it from Auto Zone with a lifetime warranty and got another one. I just finished up and all seems well now EXCEPT, than since it was charging too much, it blew out a couple of tail light bulbs, high beams, and fog lights.

For now, I'll just be replacing the tail lights and worry about the other bulbs later since they're probably $20 a piece.

 

I would go through all of your fuses too.

 

Definitely on my list, I appreciate the post..

 

and bring this crap to autozone and demand some kind of fix out of there pocket. tell them that alternators can go bad in both ways. not charging and overcharging. it will not be simply dealt with in the store. write to autozone and get something fixed!